Brownfield focus as small house builders report lack of available land

Funds to regenerate brownfield sites have been released by the government as recent studies show that the availability of land is holding back house builders.

Thousands of new homes can be built on underused and derelict land to regenerate local areas and help people on to the property ladder, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) announced recently.

Almost £58 million from the £75 million Brownfield Land Release Fund (BLRF) was allocated to 53 councils.

The funding will allow the demolition of derelict buildings and disused car parks and garages, which will help to protect countryside and green spaces, DLUHC said, and 5,600 homes can then be built on these sites.

The funding could also support up to 17,000 jobs across the housing and construction sector and the wider economy.

Secretary of State for Levelling Up Michael Gove said: “Making the most of previously developed land is a government priority, and it will help protect our cherished countryside and green spaces.”

The allocations include £5 million for self and custom build projects. A further £20 million from the BLRF was also designated to help accelerate the self and custom build sector, with councils now able to bid for the remaining funding, giving local people the opportunity to build and design their own homes.

The government aims to build up to 300,000 new homes a year by the mid-2020s.

Brian Berry, chief executive of the Federation of Master Builders (FMB), said: “Improvements in access to finance are welcome, and recent government commitments to expand access to the self and custom build market will give small builders a boost.”

His comments came as the FMB revealed that the availability of land is the most important constraint holding back local house builders from building new homes.

The FMB’s 2021 House Builders’ Survey found that, in 2021: 63% of small builders are limited in their ability to build homes by a lack of available and viable land; 62% are struggling with material shortages; 61% feel held back by the planning system; and 53% can’t find the workers they need to build their homes.

The annual survey, now in its tenth year, also indicates that buyer demand is at a survey high: homeowners are seeking more space or looking to move out of cities, which is contributing to the demand for new homes.

However, with just 12% of new housing delivered by small builders, compared with 40% in the 1980s, more must be done to diversify the house building market away from its overreliance on a few volume developers, the FMB said.

“Demand for new homes is soaring, but the decline of the small house builder has hit the capacity, competitiveness and diversity of the house building industry, and is slowing down delivery,” Brian said. “We will fail to deliver, sustainably, 300,000 homes a year unless we take action to reverse this trend.

“Builders can’t build if they don’t have the land, and the FMB House Builders’ Survey 2021 sends a clear message. With 71% of small builders reporting the number of small site opportunities is decreasing, and only 19% feeling a high level of certainty over the outcome of planning applications, these constraints are proving stubborn to shift.”